Continuous train-control system



oct. 25,1927.

T..E. CLARK ET AL coNTINUoUs TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Dec. 12. 1925 4 sheets-Sheet 1 .gw M h s/v. n was@ r N T R m m 1,1 v M d .n Y r Y hk: BW MDI? W n Mm* /d ww Q u .6| JT ..3 ww-. s ww. 1 3@ .N I. oormu: X 4 II* L: M es 2- r SF E w L QQ u. L, Q .NMT Y T ,5, l v N" wat j N: n: z: J. e 1.11m. Q A s# @una r Y u S1 n: o Y Q vv:

INVENTORS i MMM auf l ATTORNEY 4 sheets`sheet 2 oct; 25, 1927,

T. E. CLARK ET Al.

- CONTINUOUS .TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM Fiied nec. 12. lzs

voct. 25, l1927;

r. E. CLARK vE1' Al.

CONTINUOUS TRAIN GONTROL SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec.

INVENToRs Ilm www

J1' BY 4 Sheets-sheet 4 T. E. CLARK ET Al..

coNTINUous TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Dec.

' Oct. 25, 1927.

www JPM :lill

Patented Oct. 25, 1927.

@se sra-rss THOMAS E. CLARK AND .IAT/Ins CoNTINUoUs TRAIN CoNTRoL Conr'oRATIomyon nnTnoIT, MICHIGAN, :A Con- PORATICN CF MICHIGAN.

commuove TMm-comedy. SYSTEM'.

apnic-ation ined December i2, 1925'. serial N0. 743983.

rllhis invention@relates to thei control off rail-Way trains by means of high frequency currents propagated the rai-ls of tracks Whichar'e divided into blocks',v a current propagating device' being connectedt'oi lthe at theeXit end thereof, and each propagating installati'oiilv rails of each block, preferably ei'i'ibodying' means influenced by the currentin thev rails of the ticek to which. it is cfm-` ne'ct'edf; 'and its object is to provide means whereby' vacuum tubes may be utilized to provide train control currents ot dierent Wave' lengths to control the operation ofthe trains passing over thel track sections to which said tubes are connected, the WaveV lengths being determined by' the occupancy o t the track in advance.

AV further object o'tthis invention is to provide an electro-pneumatic valve to controll the operation ot the train' breaksand signalllafinps, circuits'and a current source connected thereby to sai-d'valve and lamps, relays to control the operation o'l said valve' andv lamps, and vacuum bulbs and collector circuits and instru-mentalities connected thereto toi picking up the currents propaselecting the circuit to the lamp intended to designate the condition fot which the train' Vis passing. f

In' the accompanying drawings, Figs. L2. 3 and a' are diagrams of circuitsand instrumentaflities positioned along the trackl and the' rails over mounted on locomotives embodying the present invention, the direction of travelbeing from rightto left andl the sheetsr Whenarranged 1n numerical sequence 'from left to right constituting a continuous Whole'.

Similar reference characters ,refer tol like parts throughout the several views.

The rails 1 and 2 nire shown divided into blocks A., B. C, D and E by mefans of insulations 43 in the'usual manner and track installations are shown connected to vthe 'exit' (rated inthe rails and utilizing them for' E. CLARK, on DETROIT, MICHIGAN, `^Ai'ssIeNoRsTo v In the` present system We have used a genoratore of alternating current connected to? ln'i'e' Wires 5` and 6 which .extend along the track andrei-tch tracking-talladas embodies ai Wire- 7 primary Winding 8 of the main trans 'former,.nwire 9, armature c" of a hifgh resisti ance; polar-nerural relay 10",. wire' 12armaff; f

turea of relay 13' and Wirej l14.` connecting to hire'I wire '5. Each relay 11o is controlled by the current inf the track of the block ahead and has three conditions of eneIJg'iZation, vizf, positiv'e, negative and' de-energ."

vVhen lthe condition isV either posit-iv'V negative, it attracts its' armatures a", blandcf and closes the circuit tothe primaryyvinding 8,y but when it is de-energized, which occurs when its block of track is occupied, thefc'ir- 4 cuit tothe primary' winding 8 is opened' and the adjacent track installation for the' next lblock in-1 the' rear' is' inoperative.

'Thevactmm tubes 15 and 16r are the' gen-V erators of the 'con-trol currents' and-theirdil" ments receive current from the poiftion l? ot' the'secondary winding of the malin trans-` former, the current passing overfvvifres18 and I9," variable resistance Q0 and Wire 2l' tof the lila-ment of' tube' 15', and backYV over Wires-23 and 24 toI the Winding 17. Current v also passes over Wire 18',-a'dju'stable resista A e 25andwi1f`e 26 to the filament of tube 16 and: I y back! over Wire 24. I

Theisecondary' Winding ofthe maintrans former for the plate current of tube 15 con-y sists of the pai-tsl?7 and 27, While that". for thetub'e 16'v consists" of the parts17f27 and-- 28. The plate circuit ofthe tube 15 diurmg ,the positive portion of the cycl'e 'of the current in Wires 5 and 6, is over Wire 23,- coils-17` and' 27, Wire 32, coil 3l and Wire 3@ to the plate While the circuit` during the negative portion isl over the WireBO, coil 31, Wire 32, condenser 38, Wires 1S and 19, resistance 2U and WirefQl. This circuit carries a pulsating'curren't of high-frequency and' causes' aff 'pulsa-tuig charge In the gridcircuit of this tube 15, consisting otV the Wirev 4I, inductance coil 42, Wireli extending" therefrom tothe grid leak' 44' andy condenser` 45?, and Wire 46; The coil lZ-being the' secondary ot a translV former ot which the 'coil 31 is the primary,

a pulsatirrgk charge is Vimpressed upon the Y lows. Thetrackside circuit comprising theV grid circuit and negative potential is charged on and discharged from the grid of tube 15, the condenser 45 and grid leak 44 preventing positive potential in the grid.. i This charge and discharge is probably both the cause and effect of the pulsations in the plate circuit and coil 31; The rate of vibrations and the wave lengths of the currents are controlled bythe adjustable condenser 47 which shunts the coil 31.

The plate current of tube 16 flows in one direction from coils 27 and 28, over wire 36, inductance coil 35 andv `wire 34, and in the opposite direction from the plate over wire 34, coil 35, wire 36, condensei` 39, wires 18 and 19, and adjustable resistance 20 to the filament. The plate current, therefore, never fiowsin the opposite direction through the coils 27 and 28 of the main transformer. The adjustable condenser 37 times the plate circuit of tube 16 into resonance with the platecircuit of the other tube. densers 38 and 39 serve'to protect the transformer windings 27 and 28 from the surging of the high frequency current.

The grid of tube 16 is controlled by the inductanee coil 31 of tube 15 acting on the inductance coil 48 which connects to the wire 24,by the wire 49 and to the gridA leak 50 and; condenser 51 by the wire 52. The wire 53-,connects the grid of tube 16 to its leak and condenser. As the Vcharge in this grid 'pulsates in unison with the lcharge in the grid of and with the current in the plate circuit of tube 15, the plate current of tube 16. a'lsorpulsates in such unison.

The reason for using twovtubes is as folrails and the `wires 58` and 59 is lengthened and shortened by the trains passing over the block to which V.the installation is connected. VThis change in length of circuit would normally change the wave lengths of the plate circuit through the reaction between the inductance coils 57 and 35 which are inductively connected. But the Vfrequency of the 'pulsations of this plate circuit is controlled by the grid circuit which includes the coil 48 which circuit always pulsates in unison with the plate circuit of tube 15 which is unaffected by any change in the trackside circuit. The rate of vibrations and Vwave lengths are therefore controlled by theV tube 15 and its circuits. This tube may be of very much less capacity than the tube 16. The inductance coil 35 of the plate circuit of tube 16 reacts lon Athe fixed output- Kinduetaiice 56 and variable inductance 57,

the rvlatter being used to tune the traekside circuit to the plate circuit of tube 16. This Y trackside circuit comprises two wires 58 andV 59 connected to the track -at various points bymeans of wires 61 and 62 so that the eurrent propagated in the rails will be ractically uniform throughout the block. IThe The con-,

In the drawings, We assume that the track in advance of block D` is unoccupied for three or more blocks, and the high resistance relay E10 is therefore energized, holding up its armatures. .The vcontrol current of track battery E66 (not shown) passes rearwardly along the rail E1, wire 67, relay E10, wire 68 If desired, the

and rail 2 back to battery E6, This so ener. p

gizesrelay E10 that its armatures d and 6 are swungclockwise (Fig. 1) and an additional` condenser 69 is shunted across the plate circuit of tube 15 by this armature d bridging the wires 70 and 71 and an addi` tional condenser 73 is shunted across the plate circuit of tube 16l by the armature c bridging the wires 74 and 7 5, This lengthens the waves in these plate circuits and results in ylong waves being propagated in the track rails. These two wave conditions will be referred to hereafter as the longer and,

shorter wave lengths.

The control current for block D isl derived *f from the battery 66 (F ig. 1), and flows overwire 77, resistance 78, armature 10a, wire 79, choke coil and wire 81 to rail D1 and to high resistance relay D10, thence back Vover rail D2, wir-e 82,l choke. coil 83, low resistance relay 13, wire 84, armature 10b, and wire 85 to the battery. As relay 10 has high resistance, low resistance relay 13 is not suiiiciently energized to4 attract its armature until a train short circuits the rails and cuts out relay 10, when relay 13`gets suiiicient current to attract its armature and clos-es the circuit to the main transformer.

`The train control'. installation `of any block, therefore. is inoperative unless said block is occupied, 'at which time the relay 10 atthe entrance rend of the block is ydeenergized, as shown in Fig. 2.` Should a train enter block C' under these conditions, it would'pick up no current as the main transformer circuit at the exit end of this block would be open. As block D is occupied` and the blocks. in advance are unoccupied, relay 10 at the entrance end of block E is energized. as is also relay 13 at the exit end of block D. YRelay 10,at the entrance end of block D is cle-energized and negative current flows over rail 1 of block C. Relay 10 at its entrance end is therefore negatively energized. andthe armatures (Z and e are swung counter-cloclnvise so that current of the shorter wave lengths pass to theV rails of block B over the wires 61 and 62. 'As block B is occupied, no current passes to the rails of block A over the vWires 61'Vand Vplate` from2 the filament.

receives radio-frequency current, highr Volt-L v62'. The conditions in block D are therefore clean iin blocks C and A- are therefore danger and in block B, caution These track 'installations therefore propagate substantially uniform electro-magnetic waves in the rails throughout the lengths of the blocks, the ware lengths or their absence being automatically determined by the occupancy of the track ahead, and suc i propagation taking place only in occupied blocks,

thus saving current and insuring maximum life of the. tubes.

The' locomotive installation embodies two collector' coils, 100I and 101, whichI connect toy the vacuumv tubes 102 andi 108:

the grids of I as'lfolfl'ows. From the coi-l 100 over wire 1041, condens-er 112 being and 10T to tune this circuit to resonance track. The grid' circuit from coil 101 is over Wire 108, condenser 109 grid leak 110 andi Wire I11 back to' the: coil 1011,. the adjustable condenser112'being used to tu-ne this circuit to resonance with the other ra' dio-frequency track current.

The` current for the filaments of tubes passes from the two-voltage generator 118 over wires 114, 115l and107 to they lilament of tube 102,0Ver wire' 116 tothe rilanient or1 tube 103,*a2nd wire 111, adjustable 'resistance 117 and? wires and 11%9 back to the generator.

When either of the collector coils 100101 picks u-p current, negative potential accu-r mulates i-n the grid to which the coil is connected This ohstructs the normal' action of the ltubel andt'ew electron-s pass' to the Their 'neither tube aGecuri-ent flows from the generator71.13`

02er wires 119and 118, resistance 117 and wire' 111 to filamentv of tube'108 and wire 116 to filament of tube 102. Plate current flows fromV the' plates of' both tubes tothe windings 120 and 121 of a polar neutral re'- lay over the Wires v over' the Wires 124- and 125.120 the generator.v

As the two coi-ls 120' and 121 neutralize each other, the neutral armatures a and Z7 are not attracted! a-nd thecurrent Hows overv 105, grid? leak 106', and wire 107y back to the coil, an adjustable condenser mounted between thelwires 1041v withv one of the'radioetrequency currentsyin the'l i these 122 and 123, and thencel by collector coil 101 causes coil 121 toflowing from Wirer1111'ofver green lamp G, Wire 128 and armature c.' v v But if both coils `120I and 121 are energized by reason of no current inv the rails,

or if the installation becomes inoperative', the eircuitoverl Wire 127 is opened and to the red lamp is closed. At the saine time,

the circuit to. the electroemagnetic valv'ef180,

consisting4 ot' wires114 and 181, armature l a, and wire 132-and the wires 118 and 1.19",-

is opened. -This Valve" is well known embodies a magnet or solenoid by which it is' kept closedso long as it is energized, but' when de-energized, this val-'ve` relealesthey pressure inthe tra-in-- line pipe and causes the'brakes to-be applied. i l

lhen-,- therefore, either coil- 1001-401' picksup current, one of the coils' 120;-12'1 attracts Vits armatures and'v holds the circuit to the.electro-pneumatic valve 1580' closed, but if neither *receives-current, the brakes are applied. The three signal lamps cate the" condition of they `track ahead, and

'referring to the description of' the track i-n-g'v stallations, clear condi-tions ini the'A oecu# pied block result in a green lamp, lfcafutifonr conditions result in' a yellorw lamp,` danger conditions Vin a'- red lamp 'burniiig` in' the cab. DangerA conditions the oeV` if so cupied block alwayscause the brakes-'to bek applied,but clear and c"'Cai'ition Condit. tions do not. f r

The details of construction,`tl`ie arrair'ige'd ments ot the circuits and the ratios-of the* wav-e lengths may all be VchangedY by those skilled in` the art without departingirom the spirit of. our invention as' set forth in the following claims.- l'

1. Inaftrain control system, means for fpropagating ele'cti'onnagnetic currents ofY predetermined wave lengths in the track rails, additionalI means for propagating elecitro-niagnetic currents 'of 4pre'deteriiiined wave lengths" to 'control the-wave 'lengths' of t-lie currents propagated byy said Yfirst mentioned means,y and electrically operated means' controlled by direct currents in the rails of the track in ladvance to pred'ete'r`V`Vv mine the-lengths` 'of said' wave;.

2.Iira train control system, means for propagatingy electroeinagnetic 'current-s or f predetermined Wave lengths in the track rails, additional means for propaga-ting electro-magnetic currents lof predetermined wave lengths vto control the wave lengths' of the currentspropagated byA said first mentioned means, and an electrically Ioperated Y relay energized by direct current inthe rails of the track in advance to' predetermine the lengths of said-waves.

8. In a train control" syst-enr, a vacuum* tubev and circuits therefor ltorY propagating electro-magnetic.currents in thetrackl rails,

50 of the neXt block ahead and va-sourceof a second vacuum tube and circuits thereforV connected to the grid of the first named tube to determine the wave lengths of the current l it passing to said rails, and means to varythe- .1 circuits of said tubes to change said wave lengthsV according to conditions of the track ahead.

4.*In a trani control system, a vacuum ltubeand circuitstherefor for propagating electro-magnetic currents in the track rails,

Y a second vacuum tube and circuitstherefor connected to thev grid of the first named tubev toy determine the wave lengths of the curf rent passing to said rails, and means to vary the vcircuits, of said j tubes to change said Vwave lengths according to conditions of the track ahead comprising an electrically operated relay energized by directcurrentin the rails of such track ahead. K y

5. In a train control system for railways Whose tracks arey divided into blocks, a

vacuum tube and circuits therefor connected to the exit end of a block to propagate electro-magnetic currents in the rails of said block, a second vacuum tube and circuits- .therefor connected to thev grid of the rst Anamed Atube to determinethe wave lengths of the current passing to said rails, and

means connected to the entrance ends of the rails of the next block in advancev to selecf tively v,vary the circuits of said tubesand thereby the wave length of the propagated current accordingV tothe conditions of the track ahead. Y

6. vIn a train control system for railways Vwhose tracks `.are divided linto blocks, a

vacuum tube and circuits therefor connected to the exit end of a block to propagate electro-magnetic currents in thel rails of said block, a second vacuum tube and circ-nits therefor connected to the grid of the first i named tube to determine the wave lengths Vof the current passing to said rails,y and means connected to the entrance ends of the rails of the next blockin advance to selectively vary the circuits of said tubes and thereby the wave length of the propagatedcurrent according to the conditions of the track-ahead and comprising an electrically operated relay at such entrance end current connected to the exit end of such block ahead.` c

7. In a train control system, a Vacuum tube and a grid and a plate circuit therefor, said Vplate circuit embodying an inductance, an

output inductance energized by the induct- `ance in the plate circuit and conductors connected to said output inductance and extendingparallel to the track rails, spaced confnections between said conductors and said rails to insure substantially uniform current therein, and a second tube and circuits therefor, and an inductancecoupling between the plate circuit ofthe second tubeand the grid circuit of the first tubek whereby the -wave length of the current passing to the railsi's controlled by the second named4 tube.

A 8. In a train control system, a vacuum tube and grid and plate circuits therefor, a track-l tlie plate circuit of said tube and said trackside circuit, a second vacuum tube and grid Y and plate circuits therefor, inductance couplings between the plate circuit of the sec-V whereby the wave lengths of the `current passing to the track rails are determined by the second tube, and a polar-neutral relay' energized by direct current in the rails of the.,

track ahead to control the operation of said second tube.

9. In a train control system, means for propagating electro-magnetic currents of, predetermined wave lengths in the rails of a track, said means comprising a vacuum tube a second vacuum, tube and circuitsy therefor for ldetermining such vwave lengths,

a pair of wires along the track-conveying;

power current, a transformer connected thereto to supply proper current to said tubes, a relay to close the circuit from the power wires to said transformer, and an energizing circuit to said relay adapted to be closed by ak ytrain on the rails to cause the recurrent, a transformer-connected thereto tosupply proper current to said tubes, a relay to close the circuit from the power wires lto said transformer, an energizing circuit to said relay adapted to be closedby a train oir the rails to cause the relay to close the transformer circuit so that nelectro-magnetic current is propagated in the rails of the track Vwhen occupied, means to vary the plate circuits of said tubes to vary the wave lengths of the propagated currents, and a polar-neutral relay connected to the railsof the track ahead and influenced by electric currents therein for controlling said means to vary the plate circuits.

ll. In a traincontrol system, means for propagating electro-magnetic currents ofv predetermined wave lengths in the track rails,additional means for propagating electro-magnetic currents of predetermined wave lengths to control the wave lengths of the currents propagated by said first mentioned means, and electrically operated means con- '7o side circuit, an inductance coupling between ond tube and the grid circuits of both tubes trolled by currents in the rails of the track lengths toy control the Wave lengths of the in advance to predetermine the lengths of currents propagated by saidrstmentioned y10 said Waves. means, and an electrically operated 'relay 12; In a train control system, meansV for energized by current in the rails of the tracky 'e propagating electro-magnetic currents of in advance to predetermine the length of said predetermined wavelengths inthe track waves. rails, additional means for propagating el'ec- THOMAS E. CLARK.

tro-magnetic currents of predetermined Wave I 4 JAMES E. CLARK. 

